Google isn’t reinventing the wheel with a new feature it is testing that allows any two computers using its Chrome browser to connect with each other.

As PCs get more powerful and easier to use, the challenges involved with upgrading them have remained about the same. For the novice, a hard drive upgrade can appear downright daunting. For more experienced tinkerers, the upgrade itself may be easy, but it's easier still to overlook factors that could streamline the whole process and better protect both the hardware and the data stored on it.

NSW electricity grid operator, TransGrid, will move as many as 500 of its desktop PCs to virtualised thin clients in an effort to reduce costs and extend the hardware refresh cycle to seven years.

As the U.S. arrival date approaches for the first Chromebooks from Samsung and Acer, hardware maker Xi3 on Friday announced its own entrant in the form of a desktop PC running Chrome OS.

The new iMacs have arrived. The Apple store is back online after being down this morning in anticipation of the updated desktop systems sporting the first Thunderbolt port on a desktop, AMD Radeon HD graphics and an HD FaceTime camera.

In case you haven't noticed, memory prices have dropped through the floor. As such, I've been busily upgrading every computer I can get my hands on. For example, my 2009 MacBook Pro has been maxed-out to 8GB, which involved buying two 4GB SODIMM modules. The cost? Just US$97. I dare say I could have got them even cheaper if I'd shopped around.

Building a PC is a little like walking a tightrope without a net. Okay, it's not quite that dangerous, but unlike buying an off-the-shelf system, you have to be your own tech support staff.

Is the desktop PC dead? Far from it.

Lenovo's IdeaCentre All-in-One desktops have been revamped for 2011, offering up a host of new features, and functionality. There's something for everyone here, with 3D displays, multitouch, TV tuners and new processors from AMD and Intel.